Ephraim myers



'iatent @Mira fnilell tatrt ma" Para: 2v. 100,181, naar Femm 22, 1870.

f IMPROYEML'NT 1N y HARvnsa-rzannoppzz'ns.

. v nl g l lThe Schedule referred to inthese Letters Patent andfmakngpart o! the lame.

To al? whom it may concern:

Be it known that I EPHRAnvrMYnRs, of town, `in the county of Frederick,and in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new Aand useful-Improvements in Harvester-Druppels and do hereby declare thatthe-following is a'i'ull, clealyand exact de- -scription thereof,reference being had to the -accompanying drawings and to the letters .ofreference marked thereon, making a pmt of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists inthe construction and arrangementof' a harvester-dropper in which the dropper platform has three distinctmotions quickly following each other for discharging the grain,

namely: First, falling; second, front end rising; and n third, front endfalling, and'these motions of the platform acting in connection with aVquick upward and backward motion ol" the cut-ofi, so as to quickly andeffectually discharge the grain.

in order to enable others skilled in the art to which. my inventionapperfains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a plan view of my device;

Figure 2 is a side view; and

boar d.

In the drawings I have not deemed it necessary t-o show more of aharvester than what is actually neo--l essary to fully represent myinvention and the manner of attaching the same to the harvester.

A represents the tongue of a harvester;

B, the cutter-bar; and

o, the dividing board.

Near the rear edge of the cutter-bar B is hinged or pivcted a rod, a,extending nearly the whole length of the same, and its ends bent atright angles toward the rear.

In the rear ends of the rod a are hinged or pivoted the ends of anothersimilarly bent rod, l), of such size that it can be folded within therod a.

Upon the rod b is hinged a slatted platform, D, the slats of which aremade of any suitable material, but I prefer making then of wood andmetal combined; that is, the inner hinged ends of metal and the halanceof wood.

From the arms of the rod b another rod, d, extends upward and tolvardthe rear, and on said rod are placed one or more adjustable balls'orweights, E, for the purpose of properly balancing tire platform I).These balls or weights may be made adjustable upon the rod d in variousways, but I prefer to provide therod 'with screw-threads, and screw theballs on the same so that' 'they can readily be brought closer to orfarther from the outer end of the rod, as may be desired.-

Figure 3 is a View of the inner side of the dividing The rod gl is.further, by another rod, e, connected with'or near the inner joint ofthe rods a andb, and vrods dand e', or'their equivalents, maybe so'bcntor changd'as to be out-of the way of the sheaf, and if necessary outsideof the drive-wheels or othcrpartsl` The arms or'ends of Ithe rodvwzl/re, by'means vof con necting-rods f f, connected with a bent rod,g, which extends along and on top of the cutter-bar B, infront of therod a, and the ends of which are pivoted or hinged to the tongue A anddividing-board C, as shown in fig. 1.

The dropper device'thus constructed is' operated by means of afoot-lever, G,.connected by suitable connearing-rods and levers with therod e near the inner joint ot' the rods a and b, or may bc -connectedwith -and raised bythe drive-wheel or other machinery. l

using one von each side, a much lighter rodean bensed for the cut-olg,since, if only one were rsd, the out# oil` would swag downward.

I Its operation is as follows:

When the'harvester commences to out, the operator will bear down uponthe. foot-lever G, which raises thc.-

platform D in a position inclined toward the rear and upward from nearthe rear edgeof the cutter-bar B, and the rod gis brought so as to restupon the cutterbar B.

As the grain is cut it falls upon and is carried along lwith theplatform D until enough has been collected to form a sheaf, when theoperator removes his foot from the lever G. This allows the platform Dto drop at orice, at the same time raising the'rod g. The balls orweights E acting upon the rod b, throws theinner platform forward again,throwing the front end downward. This rocking or bouncing motion of theplatform D, in connection-with the upward motion of thc cnt-olf y,electually discharges the grain. rlhe operator then, by placing his footagain upon the lever G, raises the platform and lowers the cut-oli`.ready for the`next sheaf. Y

This device may be adapted to any harvestenand I do not conne myself toanyparticular form crshape of the'difl'erent rods, 85o., as itis obviousthey must in the 'dropper is attached.

The parts Ihave mentioned as being lattachedt'o the tongue A arev to beattached to the most suitablel part of the harvester, generally to thepart nearest to theinner end of' the cutter-bar B, depending The rods ff play avery important part, for, by'

ends 'of the -rods a and b, so as to bring the Slat end of the slattedplatform D upward and backward,

and the rebound of said weights and platform tilts the.

some manner bemoditied to suit the machine cn'whichv upon theconst-motion of. the machine to which it is.l v l attached.'

The cut-off gis solconstructed at the connecting point of `the rods f f,as to produce an upward and backward motion ofthe cut-oli' when theplatform falls. And'the plat-form itself being hinged, as before men`tioned, tothe rod 71, will, .in falling, have its rear edge resting uponthe ground or stubble, and allow its front edge to rise up, as alreadydescribed, without removing the rear edge from `the ground.

It will readily be seen that the rod or cubog as it rises-,assists indischarging thc grain, and whilein this elevated position it acts as a.cut-off to separate the 'fallingand standing grain until the platformhas .been raised again.

In the dividing board C is another hole, whichA is intended to changethe position of' the cut-olf g, t'. e., in tall grain to move thecut-off back into the hindmost hole. rl`his .will throw it further backwhen raised, l so as to hold the tall grain, it not being intended toraise it higher than level with the hole in which it is hinged. This isa great advantage, for if the cut-oil" g is raised higher than this, itwill come in contact withthe overhanging reel-an indispensable part ofevery harvester. 'lhere must of course be a. corresponding hole. on theinside next-the tongue or main flame.

Having thus i'ullyedescribed my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the bent rods a b,rod d, and weights E E, allconstructed and arranged as described, so as to give the platform thebouncing motion, substantia'lly as and for the purposes hei-ein setforth.

2. The combination ofthe slatted platform D, hinged to the rod b, theweight E, audeut-otf g, all substantially as and for the purposes hereinset forth.

3. The combination of the platform D, cut-og, rods ab d e, weights E,and foot-lever G, with a suitable connecting device, all constructed andarranged .as described, and operating substantially in the mauner andfor the purposes herein set forth.

4. The combination of the bent rods a b, rods ff, and cut-off g, allsubstantially as and for'the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my handthis4th day of December, 1869.

EPHRAIM MYERS.

Witnesses:

G. L. Evem, HARRY Kme-

